Real freedom does not mean that you can do anything you want, rather you can reject what you do not want to do.

想要平息海上的倭寇之患，先要消除人们心中的积弊。

The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.

The highest manifestation of life consists in this: that a being governs its own actions. A thing which is always subject to the direction of another is somewhat of a dead thing.

唯一的出路就是穿过它。

绘画是一种生活方式，一种理解世界的方式。

译文：人能克制自己的欲望就没有灾祸，做事不欺瞒别人就会睡得安稳。赏析：欲望太多，总有得不到的时候，得不到就会不择手段，肆意妄为，从而给自己带去灾祸。靠欺骗的方式立身处世的人将失去众人的信任，最终将无法在社会上立足。

The novel is not the author's confession; it is an investigation of human life in the trap the world has become.